I love band names. They’re endlessly amusing, some because of the unique way they sum up that particular band’s sound or ethos, some because they really don’t. It can take a band AGES to choose a name. There’s a lot of ways to go about it.
First things first, don’t go for a joke. I’m a fan of the weird, and the polysyllabic, the sort of name it would have taken John Peel some time to get right on his radio show, but let’s be fair, a terrible name can make you into a joke. I’m talking Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts, Shellsuit Massacre, Pestilent Stench, Do Make Say Think, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, the Virgin Prunes, maybeshewill, Doctor Collossus and the Fifty-Foot Spider Monkeys, Helpshecan’tswim, and a thousand others who all live in my memory for their names, not their music.
Some bands just aim for something that sounds good but doesn’t mean anything, much in the way that a multinational corporation will choose a jumble of randomly chosen consonants and vowels, in an attempt to ‘brand’ the music. U2 is a good example. It means something, sort of, but it’s more just an empty label, a blank signifier which can be whatever you want it to mean. Here’s a few more examples. The Who. ABBA. Coldplay (seriously, who could believe for a minute that that meant anything?). Snow Patrol.
Bit of a theme developing there, one might think. But the indie kids are at it too, have been for years- Kyuss, Nitzer Ebb and Pulp are all deliberately empty names, and more recently bands like Interpol, Bat For Lashes, and Elbow have deliberately eschewed meaning in favour of a name that just… sounds good. My favorite band name of all, however, is Husker Du, which apparently is Norwegian for ‘Do You remember?’-doesn’t that instantly create an air of yearning, of mystery?
Others just go for one-word statements of intent. Metallica, Stereolab, Mogwai. Wolfmother. R.E.M. You read those names, you know what you’re getting, or at least get some kind of hint. That’s a good way to do it, setting your stall out, letting people know what you’re about. They don’t tell the whole story, though. At the end of the day, a name should not be the most interesting thing about your band. If it is, you’re doing it wrong.
Here’s a final thought- sometimes a band name doesn’t matter. Imagine a young band, known for good live shows, playing a recognizable and well-defined form of music, choosing a name which is a pun on their chosen genre. They’re going to be terrible, right?
Well, that would be the Beatles.